Crackhead II: A Novel (29 page)

“Ain’t it time for them to be in bed anyway?” she looked at her watch and saw it was about eleven o’clock at night.

“Yeah, but—”

“Yeah but nothing. Just come on down here for an hour. The kids will be okay.”

Shaunna paused for a moment. Her mind was racing a mile a minute. She’d left the kids at home alone before to get some milk, and they were fine when she got back.
What the hell
, she thought.

“Tell his ass I’m on my way. Don’t let him leave, Laci.”

“A’ight, I won’t. I’ll see you in a minute.”

After Laci hung up the phone, she once again stood in the shadows and watched as Shaunna propositioned one of the hustlers who was standing by his car, jaw-jacking with his boys.

“Hey which one of y’all wanna take me to the arcade tonight? I got some business down there, but if you do, I can treat y’all really good later on.”

Laci couldn’t believe her ears. Shaunna was propositioning a man to take her to meet another man. She shook her head in disgust.

Seeing Shaunna drive away with the unknown man, Laci went to the nearest pay phone and dialed an 800 number.

“DFS hotline,” the lady on the other end said. “How may I help you?”

“Um, yes, there are two children alone in an apartment in Southview. It’s a known crack house and people are in there.”

“Do you have the exact address, ma’am?”

“Yes, I do.” Laci gave them Shaunna’s address and got off the phone with the worker. She hated to hotline anyone, but she felt that Shaunna’s kids would be better off without her.

Laci had already tipped off Officer Jones about Monique’s money laundering and selling drugs.

Hearing the sirens fill the air, Laci took off in her car to make her visit to one last SBB—Crystal. Laci wasn’t one for going to a cemetery at night, but this special visit was well worth it.

On this cold November night, the grass crunched under her feet as she made her way to the headstone. Laci shined the flashlight on it and engraved was the name “Crystal Moore.” Laci didn’t wish death on anyone, but the way the girls had played her, resting peacefully in a grave was too good for Crystal.

Laci thought back to Crystal’s immense jealousy and how it had changed her life. Her temperature began to rise and she shook with anger. Screaming at the top of her lungs, Laci doused the gravesite and tombstone with two cans of lighter fluid, then she dug in her purse and took out the plastic bag that she’d received
when she and the girls went to the Gold Palace jewelry store. She took out the name-plate necklace that she’d bought, glad that the clerk understood that she meant to make another “Tonette” necklace.

Standing away from the combustible liquid, Laci lit a match. “You may be dead, bitch, but I hope you burn in hell,” she said as she threw the match on the gravesite.

Instantly, a glow warmed Laci’s body. The plot went up in flames and she walked away.

Laci drove to the police station and sat inside her car, waiting to see how long it would take before they brought everybody in. Within the hour, and within minutes of each other, each of the girls arrived. Officer Jones got out of his car with a battered and bruised Tonette in tow. Within seconds, two additional officers drove up with Shaunna and Monique.

“My kids, my kids!” Shaunna said repeatedly as she was pulled out of the car. “I gotta get my kids.”

Laci watched as they dragged Monique out of the police car as well. She was crying profusely, as if there’d been a death in her family.

As all three girls were being led into the precinct, Laci walked away from her car. “SBBs!” she yelled. Tonette, Monique, and Shaunna looked at her.

Their faces showed a sign of hope. “We’ll be out of here in a minute,” Tonette barked to Officer Jones, “that’s my girl right there!” She doubled over in pain from her assault.

“Damn, what happened to y’all?” Laci asked, looking at each of her so-called friends. “Ya’ll look like shit.”

Each of the girls began to plead her case, but Laci started laughing, and it surprised them.

“What’s so funny?” Tonette growled.

“Y’all are so goddamn stupid, look at y’all. How does it feel to be played now, ladies?”

The girls looked at her in bewilderment. “Played? What the hell you mean, played?”

“You all tricked me and changed my life, but now, the joke’s on you.” She walked up to Tonette and spit in her face. “I hope y’all rot in jail.”

Laci turned and walked to her car and drove away.

As promised, Laci called Dink and gave him the rundown.

Laci’s mother was angry with her for not letting her in on her plans, but as Laci explained to her, the fewer people who knew, the better off she was. She was already under pressure and didn’t need any more.

Leaving the South Bronx late Friday afternoon, Laci anticipated seeing Dink again. She had only been gone a week, but it was the longest week of her life.

S
MURF FRANTICALLY KNOCKED
at his mother’s door. He thought about using his key, but he didn’t just in case she’d changed the locks, which in Smurf’s eyes would have meant she truly wanted him gone.

Within seconds, the door flung open.

“Wayne!” she screamed. “What’s wrong, baby?”

He walked in.

“Momma, I know what you doin’.”

“What?” she asked.

“You fuckin’ ’round with a hustler. Mama, I never thought you would stoop that low.”

She shook her head and sighed. “Wayne, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know more than what you think. You resort to this just for money?”

“Look, boy,” Wayne’s mother said, “You my baby and I love you and will always love you until I leave this earth, but I’m a grown woman, not a little bitch off the street. I’ve sacrificed a lot
and I’ve seen a lot. I know what’s up with Demond and it’s not as simple as you think. I’m not leaving him alone.”

“Demond? Who the fuck is Demond?”

Just then, the front door opened and there stood Dirty.

“Smurf!” Dirty said with a confused look on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“Man, what are
you
doing here?” Smurf looked at him with obvious hurt in his eyes. Dirty looked between Gloria and Smurf and his eyes became wide.

“Yes, Demond, he is,” Gloria said softly. “You’ve been working with your son all this time.”

“Son?” Smurf said as he looked at Dirty. “Momma? Wha—” Smurf was at a loss for words.

“Wayne, the Feds busted him seventeen years ago when he was sixteen. D was taken away from me and I had to track him down. Once I did find him, he refused to see me, read my letters, or allow me to visit him. Then when you were old enough to start asking questions about your dad, I tried to contact him again, but I couldn’t find him. I didn’t want to keep getting your hopes up, so I just tried being the best mother I could to you.”

“Momma, you
are
the best momma. You don’t need this nigga right here.” Smurf’s anger got the better of him.

“Nigga, do you know how we lived because of you? Do you know what my momma has been through because of you? Momma, you don’t need this nigga!” He pointed toward Dirty. “I can give you what you need.”

“Wayne, this is your father.”

“Why now, man?” he looked at Dirty.

“Because I fucked up. I was a fuck-up then and I’m still one now. I loved your mother. I wanted her to move on with her life and not wait for my sorry ass. She was supposed to be with me
the night I got knocked, but I’m thankful that she wasn’t. The Feds were trying to take any and everybody down with me, so I promised myself that I would stay away from her for her sake. Nothing good would come to Gloria as long as she was around me. But think about what you and I have built. Don’t let your temper get the best of you. I’m back now, man. Let me make it up to you. We work well together, son. The whole fuckin’ state of New York is ours.”

W
HEN LACI RETURNED
to Boston, she knew that she would have to address everything with Dink, and she was now ready. He picked her up at the airport and immediately, upon seeing his face, she ran into his arms and cried.

“There, there,” he told her, holding her close and kissing her hair. “It’s all over, sweetheart.” He held Laci until she calmed down and they left the airport.

Driving in silence, they made it back to their apartment. Once inside, Laci looked at Dink and walked over to him. Taking in his masculine smell, she craved him.

Without speaking, they undressed each other and made love on the living room floor, bringing about the closeness they each longed for.

Afterward, as they lay on the couch, Laci wrapped herself in Dink’s arms.

“Baby, what happened between us?” Dink asked. “Everything was so perfect. I’m sorry about everything that has happened. A lot of this has to do with me.”

“Everything that happened over the summer, I never really
got over it. Yes, I went to counseling, and yes, you stood by me every step of the way, but there were things that were going on with me that only I could deal with in my own time.”

“Do you regret me coming here with you?”

“No, not at all. I’m glad you’re here. You are too smart to be on the streets, Dink. I just wanted my space and I felt you were crowding me.”

“When you told me that, I gave you your space, Laci.”

“Yes, you did, but then you started up with Simone.”

“Baby, there was nothing going on there.”

“I know that, Dink.”

He touched her chin and turned her face to look at his. “Do you really know that?”

“Yes, I know where your heart is.” Laci kissed Dink.

“So why did you go off the way you did?”

“No woman wants to see her man with another woman, but Dink, I had to go back to the Bronx to take care of those girls. If I told you what I wanted to do, you would have either tried to talk me out of it or gone with me, and I had to do it on my own.”

“You’re right.”

“But Dink, there are some things that I think you need to know.”

“What’s that?” he ran his fingers through her hair.

“Um, T.J. First of all, I have never slept with him. I wouldn’t do that, but there’s a tape that—”

“A tape of what?” Dink asked, getting angry.

“A tape of me when I was strung out. I don’t know how it was made, but I’m on there, along with Dame and Quita.”

“How did T.J. get the tape?”

“I don’t know, but he has it. He wanted me to sleep with him or he was going to show you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this when it happened?”

“I couldn’t, Dink. When I saw the tape, I was horrified. It was rape and it was on tape. You and I were trying to build a relationship, and a tape of me being raped is out there for anyone to see. You wouldn’t look at me the same, Dink, trust me. I didn’t look at myself the same.” Laci had tears welling up in her eyes. “It was degrading and I didn’t want to embarrass you. Even though you and Simone were just friends, it would have driven you right into her arms.”

She looked at Dink with tears in her eyes. “But there’s something else you should know, too.”

Dink sighed, “What’s that?”

“That I’m pregnant.”

“What? How?”

“Obviously sometime when I was tweakin’.”

“Who’s baby is it, Laci?”

“Dink, I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Laci answered honestly.

“Damn.” Dink moved his arms from around Laci and got up off the sofa. “You can’t have that baby, Laci,” Dink demanded.

“Dink, I know there are a hundred reasons why I should get rid of this child, but deep down I just don’t think that I can.”

“You want it? Laci, it’s a fuckin’ crack baby!”

“True, but I was a crackhead and I’m able to face my demons and suffer the consequences of my actions.”

“Man,” Dink said and rubbed his hand across his forehead.

“Dink, I’ll make this easy for you.” Laci got off of the couch and stood up. “I don’t expect you to stay around and I’ll understand if you don’t; I don’t want you to stay around out of obligation. I’m a big girl now.”

“So, are you trying to break up with me, Laci?”

“I don’t know, Dink. Everything is just so confusing right now. Just time apart and a fresh start, I guess. Drugs brought us together, Dink, but we don’t have anything keeping us together now. We tried to make it work, but it just got too hard.”

“If that’s what you need, Laci, I can’t do anything but honor your request.” He knew what that meant—they were over. “But I promise to be around if you ever need me.”

“I know you will.”

T
ONETTE WAS BOOKED
on multiple charges ranging from possession of controlled substances to theft. On their many shopping sprees, Laci had filled out credit applications in Tonette’s name and every time she was denied, she stole the merchandise. She was also charged with the intent to sell narcotics. Monique turned the tables on Tonette as well, when she learned what was in the packages that she took to the post office. Tonette was also charged with abuse.

Shaunna was booked on possession, child abandonment, child endangerment, and neglect, and as a result, her children were placed in protective custody and she lost parental rights.

Monique was charged with intent to distribute drugs through the postal service and receiving stolen merchandise. When they raided the post office, they found packets of ice and crack rock in a box wrapped in brown paper, unlabeled. In the other box, with her name on it, was $5,000 in cash.

In prison, each of the girls ran into someone they had done wrong either on the streets or as South Bronx Bitches. Trying to be cool with them, the girls quickly learned that payback was a bitch and they would receive their just rewards.

Tonette was raped and beaten every night by the male wardens.
Monique ran into girls who she dogged because Tonette hated them. The all-female clique now preferred pussy over dick and made Monique their bitch every chance they could.

Shaunna, already feeling like a failure as a mother, learned of the underground drugs that floated freely in the system. Having never done anything harder than weed, Shaunna got her hands on the first thing she could, but the dosing proved to be lethal.